Vol. 12, No. 102

Sharon Nelson’s post today caught my attention – admittedly at first because of “Da Silva Moore” in the title. I wondered if I was going to learn anything new or whether it was a rehash of what I’ve read from other sources. I read it twice and then said to myself “Well, isn’t that SPE-CIAL?!” For those of you more immersed in the eDiscovery world on a daily basis – what’s your take on this? I’d love to hear from you. Read more at ride the lightning: Da Silva Moore and the Role of ACEDS

Vol. 12, No. 102

After speaking to a group of IP paralegals about creating a digital office, Stephanie Kimbro was asked, “With all this technology, how many human bodies do you think it will replace in the law firm?” Her post talks about technology, virtualiation and the future makeup of law firms. Read more at Virtual Law Practice: Who Does the Technology Replace?

Vol. 12, No. 102

Thomson Reuters has a video clip of Susan Hackett at the Serengeti Summit talking about what defines client service in the coming years. Watch at LegalCurrent: How Legal Work is Changing

Vol. 12, No. 102

In the “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” category, this fall Guidance Software plans to open App Central, an Apple-like app store. It’s an intriguing approach. Will we see other vendors (legal or otherwise) follow suit? I’m curious to see how licensing, payment and other such details are worked out. Read more at Law Technology News: Guidance Software Plans ‘App Store’

Vol. 12, No. 101

It would appear from the fourth annual Altman Weil Law Firms in Transition Survey that law firm leaders have accepted “the new normal.” Trends once thought to be temporary, are now being overwhelmingly accepted as permanent. How best to react to these changes is apparently, still under debate. Read more at Altman Weil and download your own copy of the survey here: Major Shift in Law Firm Leaders’ Attitudes

Vol. 12, No. 101

The soon to be released Mattern 2012 Cost Recovery survey prompts Rob Mattern to discuss expense reduction vs. increasing billable percentage of expenses. Rob says “The message is simple: expense reduction is important, expense recovery and realization is 450% more important.” A laudable goal and one everyone should shoot for. I hope, when the full report is out, we’ll get to see some charts and analysis on the costs of installing/maintaining a cost recovery infrastructure and those costs that clients are no longer willing to pay. Read more at Mattern of Fact: Cost recovery: 450% more important than expense reduction

Vol. 12, No. 101

I’m going to cheat a bit here and quote Greg Lambert’s summary paragraph: “I like Allworth’s topic of being surrounded by smart people that challenge your way of thinking; of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and viewing what you do, and see it from other perspectives. We may find that what we consider to be valuable services to us, are no longer valued by those that we think we serve. Eventually, we may find that the most valuable services we should provide do not exist at the moment, and those we should be providing that service to are not even our current customers. Sounds like disruptive innovation starts by disrupting our own beliefs first.” Amen. Don’t hire yes men. Always put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Start at the source. Great advice. A must read at 3 Geeks and a Law Blog : Creating a Disruptive Innovation – Disrupt Your Own Beliefs First

Vol. 12, No. 100

Feeding America is moving from BlackBerries to Windows Phones citing the level of Exchange, SharePoint and Lync integration as the primary reason. Having been involved in a long term project involving Apple hardware and Microsoft software, this resonated with me. Working with the non-Windows versions of MS products is an arduous and frustrating experience. I guess that is their strategy – make the products crippled enough to make you want to throw in the towel and go 100% MS. Read more at wpcentral: Feeding America moving from Blackberry to Windows Phone

Vol. 12, No. 100

What do bagless vacuums and hair balls have to do with law firm marketing? When is a brand not a brand? How do you maintain a brand over time? The answers to these and other questions are available today at Law Firm 4.0 Blog: What law firms can learn from Dyson’s (think vacuum cleaners) anti-branding slur.

Vol. 12, No. 100

According to Telework Research Network, “45 percent of the U.S. workforce holds a job that’s at least somewhat compatible to telecommuting.” As organizations devolve from the physical to the virtual, what are the legal issues that need to be considered? Read more at Finance and Commerce: Legal Matters: Legal issues abound in telecommuting